Plo Koon's Apprentice
by Ca11umism
Summary: 'OC' the story of Ewn Aathrast, the last padawan of Jedi Master Plo Koon. Will feature moments from the series, as well as some original ones of my own. READ AND REVIEW. PLEASE?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **_Welcome to the Clone Wars Chronicles-Plo Koon's apprentice series. The idea came from one of those 'Choose your own destiny' books, and in the beginning, will follow the same premise, but not for long._**

_**Sit back, relax, and read and review.**_

_Danks..._

**CHAPTER 1:**

_"They are ready for you, young one..."_

Ewn smiled and nodded to the brown skinned Nautolan jedi, who put her long arm around his shoulder and lead him through the red doorway into the council chambers. He quickly checked his dark ponytail-making sure that it hung over his left shoulder as the jedi tradition stated-and then fumbled at his side to make sure he hadn't lost his saber. When his hand found the silver hilt, the tense feeling that permiated his entire thirteen year old body seemed to fade away, and he allowed the older jedi to lead him in with a little more confidence in his step.

After the red doorway, there was a short staircase that Ewn and the Nautolan climbed up to the Jedi master's council chamber-a gigantic circular room in which the twelve masters of the jedi order met to discuss the various aspects of the Republic war effort against the Separatist armies. Today though, only eight of the masters were in the chamber-Plo Koon, Ki-Adi-Mundi, Sasee Tiin and Mace Windu were each away on missions for the republic.

The Nautolan jedi stopped Ewn right at the top of the stairs, turned to face him, and checked over the boy's attire.

First his jet black hair-cut into a crew cut and ponytail-then the beige tunic that all jedi wore, and finally the utility belt that held all of the usual affects jedi needed when out in the field. When it seemed the the elder jedi was comfortable with Ewn's appearance, she gestured for him to walk out into the circular platform which the council sat around. Ewn nodded, bowed to his elder, and did so, stopping when he reached the center of the Republic symbol emblazoned on the chamber's floor.

Ewn looked around at the various jedi masters that circled him, who each nodded to him as Ewn's dark blue eyes met theirs.

When he stopped, he was facing the one and only Yoda, the high council's Grand Master-a title which was only bestowed upon one jedi in the entire order. Ewn didn't know very much about Yoda-he'd only met him a few times-and each one of those were in group training sessions with dozens of other younglings. But, what he did know was that Yoda's blessing was something many jedi-of all ages and ranks-considered to be a great honor.

Ewn bowed directly to Yoda, who nodded in reply. "Good m-morning Masters." Ewn said. Ewn clenched his fist when he stuttered, angry with himself.

"Good morning young one..." the Togruta jedi master Shaak-Ti replied, a smile on her red skinned face. Ewn felt she was smiling at his obvious nervousness.

"How are you feeling?..." the woman asked. Ewn turned his head to her and smiled.

"Well, master...thank you"

Shaak-ti smiled again and nodded, turning her head to face the jedi Kit Fisto-a Nautolan like the jedi who lead Ewn in, only a male with green skin instead of a female with brown-who smiled as well.

"Lying, you are..." the voice of Yoda called out. High pitched like a child, and yet in some way, raspy and elegant. Ewn and the rest of the council turned to the small, green skinned jedi, who sat with his small head resting upon his three fingered hand.

"Scared you are, nervous...See it in your eyes, I can."

Ewn, thought about lying, saying that he held no fear, but he knew that the much wiser jedi would see through it. "I am afraid Master...I fear that I will not be chosen tomorrow and not progress as a padawan."

Yoda nodded slighty. "An interesting fear, you have..."

"Why is it you believe you will not pass the trials young one?..." Shaak-Ti asked.

"I'm not sure..." Ewn said, turning to face the woman again. "It was only a thought before, but when I was told that you had summoned me alone, that was the first thing I thought of..."

"And you believe that because we asked you here, we have decided your destiny for you?..." the Togruta woman asked.

Ewn half-nodded, half-shrugged.

"How feel you, if pass trials, you did not?..." Yoda asked.

"Upset, master...but I would accept the decision."

"Do your part, you would..."

Ewn nodded. "Yes master."

Yoda looked around at the other council members, gaining a nod from each one. "Ewn..." the boys jaw drooped-he'd never heard Yoda call anyone by their name before, at least without a prefix. "Quite accomplished, you are, for one so young...Master Drallig gives great praise to you, he does..."

Ewn smiled. Cin Drallig was the battlemaster in the Coruscant temple, and a highly respected member of the order who trained the best swordsmen in the galaxy.

"His words are kind then master..."

Yoda nodded. "Humble, I see you are..." Yoda looked around again, gaining more nods. "Ewn, a mission we have for you..."

"You know of Master Plo Koon?..." Shaak-Ti asked. Ewn nodded. Everyone in the order knew of Jedi Master Plo Koon, the Kel-Dor master from the planet Dorin who was a hero of the Stark Hyperspace War many years ago.

"Yes master, I know much about Master Plo."

"He is in need of an apprentice...and since our war with the separatists takes up much of his time, he is in need of a padawan that stands out amongst his classmates."

"And you have chosen me?..." Ewn asked, trying his hardest to hide the excitement in his voice.

Shaak-Ti nodded with another smile.

"How feel you?...of our decision?..." Yoda asked, eyeing the boy.

"I am honored master..." Ewn trailed off. Yoda noticed.

"More to say, have you?..."

Ewn hesitated for a moment, but managed to find his voice. "Well..What if master Plo does not accept me as his apprentice?..."

"True it is, Master Plo rarely accepts apprentices, but in need of one he is...Knows this, he does."

Ewn nodded, taking relief in the words of his master. "I proudly accept."

Yoda smiled. "Good, that is...Excused, you are"

Ewn smiled and bowed to the masters, before backing out and down the stairs, barely hiding his excitement.

**0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0**

The next day, Ewn found himself standing next to Master's Yoda and Cin Drallig-who'd come out to wish him the best-upon the hover deck on which a Republic clone _"_**LAAT**"-or _'Larty_' as the clones were calling it-sat. This was the ship the was to carry Ewn to the Star Cruiser "**_LIBERTY_**", which was positioned just outside Coruscant's atmosphere, and would carry Ewn and a battalion of clone troopers to the planet Dorin-where Ewn was to meet his new Jedi Master and the clones were to set up a base on the planet's surface.

Ewn had been given gifts from both Yoda and Drallig-a light weight cloak from the Grand Master, and a Holocron containing an expansive saber technique encyclopedia from the Battlemaster. He was quite happy with both gifts, as the dark brown cloak was a symbol that Ewn had truely become a padawan, and as his passion was the lightsaber, he already knew the Holocron would take up much of his time on the way to Dorin.

The elder jedi hadn't said much in the last few minutes, all three just watched as the half dozen troopers who were refuelling the small transport went about their work. But, when the last of the fueling pipes were cleared from the platform, and the commander approached the three jedi, Yoda turned to Ewn to offer a few last words.

"Bestowed upon you, a great honor, has been..." Ewn nodded to the older jedi, paying careful attention to the ledgendary jedi's words. "Though take it lightly, you must not..."

"Yes Master..."

Drallig put his hand on the youngling's shoulder, and looked at Ewn through his grey blue eyes. "A war is not the ideal time for a padawan to be trained, but I, and Master Yoda, believe that you will shine and grow a great deal with these experiences."

Ewn nodded again, just as the clone reached the three.

"General...the transport is ready for departure." he said, before turning back towards the transport.

Yoda nodded. "Time it is, for you to leave..." he looked at Ewn once more. "To Master Plo, for guidance, you should look..."

"I will master..." Ewn bowed. First to Yoda, then to Cin Drallig, and then headed out after the clone commander towards the transport.

"Young one..." Cin Drallig called. Ewn turned to look back at the two who had trained him.

"May the force be with you." the two jedi masters said quietly.

Ewn smiled, before turning back and bowing. "May the force be with you Masters."

The boy turned and climbed onto the transport's ramp, taking a step up into the seating area as two of the clones closed the shields.

"Hello there youngling, I'm Cody." the tanned skin commander smiled as he took off his helmet.

"I'm Ewn Aathrast...a pleasure." the boy replied politely.

"A pleasure to meet you too jedi...it looks as if we'll be seeing alot of each over the next few days."

Ewn nodded. "Yeah, I guess we will."

"Don't worry, I'll watch over you."

Ewn smiled. "I'll do the same for you commander."

The clone laughed heartily as the transport lifted off of the platform. "That's good to know jedi, that's good to know..."

0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0

_Well, there's the first chapter. I'd appreciate it if you'd put a review in. I'd just like to know if anyone thinks this is a good idea._  
><em>Thanks in advance.<em>


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Just wanted to say thanks to 'JEDICLONECOWGIRL', 'JEDI MASTER PLO KOON' and 'FENOR9' for their short reviews. Thanks.

**CHAPTER 2:**

As the clone transport left Coruscant's atmosphere, Ewn caught sight of the _'LIBERTY'_ through the starboard viewport that had been built into the transport's door. He'd never seen a Star Cruiser up close before-only from the decks that circled the temple, and even then they were kilometers away-and the wonderous sight that was the ship was enough to make Ewn's jaw drop.

The sheer size of the Cruiser compared to their transport was overwhelming. As the pilot passed the bow, Ewn counted how long it took to reach the docking bay. Six minutes and fourty-six seconds.

'Incredible aren't they?..." Cody said as their transport's thrusters lifted them into the bottom of the much larger ship.

"Yeah, I didn't think it would be this big..." the boy looked out of the viewport again as the ship landed on the docking bay floor. Around them, dozens more clone troppers were preparing the floor for the departure of Ewn and the rest of the occupants from the transport. A series of cables were connected to the undercarriage to hold it in place and refuel it, Then braces popped up from under the floor to support it.

Both side doors came unhinged, and the sides fell open, turning the two doors into exit ramps for the passengers. Ewn took up his travel pack and followed Cody down into the the docking bay.

A man dressed in the dark grey flightsuit all officer wore met the clones and Ewn at the bottom of the ramp.

"Captain..." Cody said as he reached the grey suited man, saluting him, before moving off to the side.

"Commander..." the Captain said, turning his attention to Ewn. "You must be the youngling..." Ewn nodded, a little intimidated by the Captain. He had reason to be, the Captain was a oddly scary looking man, with a large bald patch on his pale head and grey eyes that watched Ewn like a Kath hound.

"We've prepared quarters for you east of the bridge," the Captain moved to the side and gestured for Ewn to follow. "This way..."

Ewn just nodded, then followed the Captain over and into the turbo-lift, which stopped at the bridge.

Here he took this chance to look out at Coruscant. He'd never been off planet before, and the silver and bronze cities that were just visible from the ship were almost as awe inspiring as the Liberty. Perhaps even more.

The Captain beckoned him again, dragging Ewn from his sightseeing and leading the young jedi into a room right off the bridge, where a bed, holodesk and meditation mat had been set up for him. "I hope this is to your liking..._sir_..." the Captain said, adding the 'Sir' at the last second, as Ewn surveyed the room. It was roughly the same as what he had at the temple-apart from the few personal effects that littered his room there-so Ewn had no complaints.

"This is perfect, thank you Captain..."

The Captain nodded. "Our journey to Dorin will take around ninety minutes, we will have someone bring food up to you later on."

Ewn looked over to the captain. "Okay...th-thank you..." he said. For some reason, he all of a sudden felt as if he wasn't welcome on the ship.

The Captain nodded once more. "You've never been on a crusier before have you?..."

Ewn shook his head.

"Then the jump to Hyperspace will effect you..I suggest you lie down until we've safely made the jump."

The Captain bowed-looking a little annoyed at having to do so to a teenager-and then left without another word, leaving Ewn to pack his things away.

_**0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0**_

Ewn sat on the meditation mat in his quarters. It had been almost an hour since the Cruiser had hit Hyperspace, and he'd spent the most of the time sitting silently-legs crossed and his hands resting on his knees-having gotten bored of pacing his quarters.

The jump to Hyperspace wasn't as bad as Ewn expected it to be. Being told to lie down by the captain made him a little anxious about the event, but it just felt as if a weight had been placed on his chest for about a minute, then nothing, as if they weren't moving at all.

He had also tried to run through saber Kata's earlier, but the Captain had called in over the room's comm unit and asked him not to-in case something was damaged. That put him down a bit, as he was very eager to practice, but in the end, he followed the Captain's request and just meditated-albeit rather reluctantly.

A quick 'bleep' tore the young Jedi from his trance, and, upon standing up and looking at the camera screen on his wall,realised he was starving. Outside, Commander Cody stood with a tray of food, waiting for Ewn to buzz him through. The youth did so, and smiled as the clone entered his chamber with a tray of Corellian vegetables and some blue milk.

"Here we are Jedi..." the clone smiled as he sat the tray down of Ewn's table. "How are you liking the trip?..."

Ewn sat on the bed, and took up the milk. "It's alright, pretty boring though."

Cody giggled. "Yeah, that can happen. We clones are always on duty though, so there's no time to get bored."

Ewn nodded."I wish there was something for me to do."

"The Captain just doesn't want you to get injured before Dorin."

"And I thought he just didn't like me."

"He's always been like that." Cody said with a chuckle, standing up. "I'll leave you to your meal, but I'll be back up right before we pull out of Hyperspace to check on you."

Ewn opened his mouth to ask if Cody would stay a while, just so he would have someone to talk to, but all that came out was an "Okay..." then watched as the door closed on the clone.

Ewn regretted not asking Cody to stay immediately. He'd never so much as spent an afternoon alone on Coruscant, so isolation wasn't something the teen was used to.

He sighed to himself, then turned his attention to his meal, taking up a purple carrot and biting it in healf with his left canine. It wasn't ba...

**BAMMMMMM**

The sound of an explosion echoed throughout Ewn's cabin, and the entire ship jerked to the left, sending the apprentice flying into his wall, along with everything in the cabin that wasn't bolted down. His shoulder collided against the carbon steel and the impact rocked him, his vision blurring and his arm going numb.

He didn't move for a moment; actually, it was more like he couldn't. His head felt like a Rancor had stood on it. _'What happened?...'_ he asked himself. At the temple he was taught that Hyperspace travel was one hundred percent safe.

Ewn had no time to think, as the roof opened up and Cody leant in, as if Ewn were stuck in an arena pit and the clone was looking down on him. "_Ewn_?...damn..Ewn give me a second,ok?...I'll get you out." the figure that was Cody disappeared for a moment, leaving the boy to look around his room. It was then that he noticed that his cabin was on it's side. The roof hadn't opened, the entire ship had been tipped on it's side. His doorway was now the roof.

For a few minutes, Ewn lay there, still not recovered from his crash, until a thin rope dropped down into the cabin, a clone following it. "Jedi?..." Ewn raised his head to see a trooper that wasn't Cody standing over him. "On your feet youngling..." he said, reaching down and taking the boy under his arms and lifting him to his feet. "We've got to get you out of here.."

"I need my things..." Ewn said, his eyes still slightly glazed over. He stepped past the clone and began searching the small mess in his cabin for his possessions.

"We don't have the time..." Cody said, leaning over the doorway above them.

"It'll only be a second." Ewn replied. He wasn't losing his affects for anything. Sinking starcruiser included. He reached the closet built next to the bed, and pulled it open, revealing his cloak crumpled inside. He pulled the brown dressing from it's hook and threw it over his shoulder.

"No jedi...there's no time for searching..." the clone who'd been lowered into the room insisted, wrapping a cord around Ewn and tugging it, indicating to Cody to retract and pull them from the room.

"I've got it." he muttered, grabbing Cin Drallig's holocron from his cot's strewn covers. The next second, his entire body lifted from the floor, and he and the clone lifted up to the doorway, where Cody wrapped his arms around Ewn to pull him over the edge.

"Are you alright Ewn?," The boy looked up, seeing a half dozen troopers gathered together, all watching him.

"I'm fine, I'm just dizzy."

Cody pulled him to his feet as another trooper reached out to give clone who'd rescued Ewn his hand, pulling him out of the pit as well. "Good, we don't have time to waste...come on," he started off up the hall. "The ship's going down, we have to abandon her."

The clone who helped Ewn out of the room put his hand into his back. "Come on jedi," Ewn followed his lead, his haze finally starting to fade away. The group of clones and Ewn snaked down the halls, left and right, and through a series of doors to the evac-bay.

"What's going on?," Ewn asked, watching the dozens of men and women, clones and officers, hastily climbing through the circular doors into the evacuation pods."Why is the ship going down?,"

"The Separatists," Cody said, clearing the path to one of the pods and motioning for Ewn to climb in. "They littered our flight path with Grav-mines and pulled us from hyperspace." Cody and the rest of the clones followed Ewn into the pod, where Cody helped strap Ewn in.

"How would they know our flightpath?," EWn asked as Cody pulled his straps tight and sat down in his own seat.

"Isn't it obvious?," Ewn shook his head. "Someone gave them away." Seconds later, before Ewn had a chance to ask anymore questions, he was jerked to the side as the pod exploded from it's port. The sensation was much like the jump to hyperspace, though much more brief. He felt the G-force lift almost as quickly as it had set in, allowing him to watch through the porthole as chunks of the colossal ship broke apart from each other and fell into the atmosphere of a nearby planet.

"What are we going do?," Ewn cried, just now realising that they were alone in the void of space with part of the Separatist army bearing down on them.

Cody, who was sitting at the small comand console across from Ewn, pointed out at the planet where the debris was falling to. "There. We'll hide on planet and fire off a signal to Dorin, General Koon should reach us in a few hours," the pod formed an arc and headed towards the planet-where Ewn noticed many of the escape pods were heading. "Until then we'll just have to keep out of sight,"

Ewn gulped, fearful as the escape pod entered the planet's atmosphere, clenching his blue eyes together as he braced for impact.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3:**

It had been nearly two hours since they'd crashed onto the planet, and Ewn's heart was still racing.

They'd had to abandon the pod almost as soon as they'd hit the surface, which wasn't the best plan acording to Cody, as the signal devices that they needed to alert Master Plo on Dorin were built into the pods communication unit, but the Separatists had sent scouts down to the planet straight after the Liberty battle, searching for the ship's escape pods, and they had no choice.

They were safe though, that mattered. Cody and the clones had managed to secure a cave on the planet where they'd set up a camp a few clicks from the crash site. The planet itself wasn't the best place to be stranded on, miles of red sand and rock for as far as the eye could see. Cody had told him it was called _'Eridis'_, but that didn't matter to Ewn. He just wanted off.

Two of the clones sat at the rocky cave's opening, watching the red plains beyond through their monoculars for any signs of other survivors, Separatist drones, or worse. Another one of the troops had managed to light a fire, which Ewn had shuffled extremely close to in order to stay warm, which was where he sat now, turning Cin Drallig's holocron over in his palms, and running his finger along the massive crack that had appeared in the device.

Ewn had assumed it had happened during the first explosion, when he was thrown into the wall. It depressed the boy, he'd barely had the holocron for a day, and it was already ruined. He hadn't even gotten a chance to use it.

One of the clones gave him some rations-a packet of dried meat-and he chewed on them as he waited for Cody to make a plan. The strips weren't bad, they reminded him of the Rylock meat that they were often given at the temple, but they weren't very filling. He watched the clones go about their work as he ate. Apart from the two who sat as lookouts, and Cody who sat by the fire as well, doing his best to work out their next move, the others did various things to secure the cave. One stood on the far side of the cave, cleaning what weapons the clones had managed to collect from the pod before their escape, and another-the communcations troop-sat trying to modify his commlink, hoping to get hold of any other survivors on the planet.

But the last two troops, Ewn had no clue what they were doing. They were against the cave wall behind Ewn, and just looked to be hammering at the rocks with the butts of their blaster rifles. "What are they doing?," Ewn asked after a few minutes of watching them, when he'd realised they weren't making any progress. Cody looked up from the data pad he was working on, then looked back down to it.

"They're trying to break some of the rocks,"

Ewn turned to the commander when the clone didn't say why. "Why are they breaking the rocks?"

"See over there?," Cody pointed to the cave's entrance, a large gaping mouth with the plains looking in at them. Ewn nodded. "If the Separatists find us, we're in a death trap. There isn't any way for us to escape into a deeper part of the cave, so we're breaking the rocks to form a barricade."

Ewn nodded. "They don't seem to be doing very well."

"That's because Eridious rock is tougher than carbon steel, and we can't use explosives in here, unless we want the cave coming down on us."

Ewn turned his attention to the troops as they worked, then smiled. "I can help,"

"How's that jedi?, the force isn't going to help us here."

Ewn put down the empty rations, and pushed himself to his feet. Cody didn't take his head from his datapad as the boy walked over to the two troops. "Here," he said, pushing between the two and taking the silver hilt of his lightsaber from his belt. The emerald green blade illuminated the entire cave as he activated the weapon, then faded as he dug the weapon into the rocky wall like a miner with a pickaxe, carving the red rock with ease.

"Good work jedi," one of the clones said, tapping Ewn on the shoulder as he began to work, carving chunks of the rock from the walls. The clones began taking the rock chunks as Ewn cut them, carrying them over to the entrance and laying them down. Soon, the entrance was blocked by a three foot wall of stone, and two stone seats where the lookouts sat.

"Told you I could help," Ewn said with a smile, sitting back down by the fire by Cody, who nodded his defeat.

"Alright, jedi, you won..." Ewn grinned proudly. "But, while you were busy doing the grunt work, I've been working on getting that console from the pod." the clone gestured for Ewn to come closer, and activated the hologram in his datapad. The synthentic blue image that projected above the screen showed a map of the planet. Two points-roughly and inch and a half apart-flashed brighter than the rest of the hologram. "This," Cody pointed to one of the flashing points. "Is where our pod crashed and this other point is this cave. Now," Cody pressed a button on the datapad, and the hologram changed to a schematic of the pod's systems. "This is the communications chip, it's built into the main console of the pod, but, isn't dependant on it," Ewn nodded to show he was listening. "So, our plan is to get to the pod, take out any droids that may be scouting the area, and disconnect the comm unit to bring back here."

Ewn kept his eyes on the hologram for a moment, running through what Cody said quickly in his mind. The plan seemed simple enough, but he had no idea how to disconnect a comms unit from a console. That shouldn't matter though, if Cody was there, he'd know the procedure. "Okay," the youth said after a moment of thought. "I'm in. when do we go?,"

Cody nodded. "That's good Ewn, but we can't just barge in there. The droids have probably found the pod by now, and knowing the Separatists, they've probably set up some sort of trap." Ewn looked back at the datapad, finally realising the danger that faced them in their quest. His thoughts didn't dwell on the plan for much longer though, as the clone who'd been working on contacting the other survivors let out a '_HA_', prompting Ewn, Cody, and the other clones within the cave to turn their attention to him.

"Commander," the clone waved Cody over to him-Ewn following. "I've got something," The clone fiddled with his comm for a moment, until the sounds of an impatient clone came from the small, remote sized device. "Here,"

_"THIS IS A DISTRESS SIGNAL TO ANY REPULIC TROOPS WITHIN RANGE-THERE ARE EIGHT OF US, AND ADMIRAL LAUTH-WE'RE STUCK IN SOME KIND OF SINKHOLE AT COORDINATES 09-88-49-WE ARE STUCK UNDER SEPARATIST FIRE-REPEAT-WE ARE STUCK UNDER SEPARATIST FIRE AT COORDINATES 09-88-49-PLEASE SENT HELP"_

The voice was laced with static, making the message barely audible, but the clone on the other end began repeating his signal over again. "What are the coordinates?," Cody asked the clone, who repeated them to the Commander as he typed them into his datapad. The blue planetary map appeared once more-only this time, instead of two flashing points, there was one, located south of where their pod had come down.

"Damn," Cody muttered to himself. "Eridian mudpits. this isn't good."

"What's not good?," Ewn questioned, not knowing the severity of the situation.

"Eridian mud pits aren't actually mud, They're pits of molten rock so hot that they can melt Cortosis. It's not safe for the squad out there, especially with an army on there rear."

"So?," Ewn said loudly, drawing the attention of everyone in the cave. "Let's go get them!"

"It's not that simple Ewn, if we get caught in the mud pits too, it could be days before we get out, by then, the heat will have fried us to fodder."

Ewn looked at the floor of the cave, licking his lower lip-a habit he had sometimes-as he thought. "Well, why don't we send two teams?" Cody eyed the boy through his visor, not knowing where he was going with it. "Send some of us to help the squad in the pits, and the rest of us head to the pod and get the comm-unit!."

"Ewn, we still don't know what the Separatists may have done to the pod, it could be rigged to explode if we step inside..."

"Yes, but at the moment we don't have any other options. If we want to help the Admiral and the other clones, we need to work now." Cody looked at the young jedi once more, seeing a fire in his blue eyes that reminded him of someone, and nodded.

"You're right, okay," the clones left their positions and came over to Cody. "Rex, you're the best with electronics, so you'll go to the pod. Gearshift and Longshot will go with you, the rest of us will get out to the mudpits and help fight off the droids," Cody turned to Ewn, raising his visor to look at the boy in the eye. "Ewn, I promised I'd watch out for you, but it looks like I'm failing..."

"No Cody, you saved me back on the Liberty, you've done your job wonderfully." Cody's brown eyes thinned-as if he were smiling beneath his helmet.

"Alright. Ewn, I want you to go with Rex to the pod, maybe that force of yours can be of some use." Ewn nodded as the clone patted him on the shoulder. "Alright boys, get strapped, we're heading out..."

**0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0**

Ewn tried his hardest to keep up with the three clones, even with the extra agility his jedi training had given him, the clones much longer legs gave them the advantage in the harsh, rocky terrain. They'd offered to wait for him, but he didn't want to seem weak in front of the clones, so he shrugged their gesture off and told them to keep true.

Rex had been kind enough to carry Ewn's padawan cape in his rucksack, leaving the boy to traverse the cliffs without having to worry about tripping over his cloak. It was a weight off his back too, as the planet had grown much hotter over the last twenty minutes.

Soon, Ewn noticed the clones-who were a hundred or so meters ahead of him-stopping by a ravine, and ducking down behind one of the cliff faces to spy over the edge. The boy fell to his knees behind them after he caught up, and, upon looking over the edge of the cliff, saw their escape pod, half covered by rock and sand due to the impact of the crash, laying beneath them.

"What's wrong?," he asked, doing his best to catch his breath as silently as possible.

Rex tapped him on the shoulder, and pointed down to the pod's detached portal. "See there?," he said, Ewn following his finger to a lump in the red sand by the pod. Ewn nodded his reply, not knowing what the lump was. "It's a droideka."

Ewn watched the motionless lump in the sand. "So?, what's big deal?"

"Droideka's have inbuilt shield generators," Gearshift began, his eyes on the lump too. "None of our weapons can penetrate their shields and we didn't get any EMP grenades from the Liberty," Ewn nodded, licking his bottom lip.

"I can deflect it's blaster with my saber," he said after a moment. Rex shook his head, clearly not wanting to put Ewn in danger. "Well, what'll we do then?" the three clones and the young jedi looked over their crash site in silence for a moment, until Longshot-who was watching the lump through his rifle scope-spoke up.

"Why don't we distract it while Rex sneaks in and gets the device?,"

Ewn turned from Longshot to Rex, who nodded. "That's the best plan we've got, okay," the clone pointed to his two comrades. "You two run around to the far side of the ravine and open fire on my signal, then, I'll sneak in and disable the comm unit for transport." the two clones nodded and broke off, sneaking between the rocks around the ravine's cliff ledge, until they found places on the opposite side to Ewn and Rex. "Ewn, You come with me and keep watch while I work, stay as quiet and as low as possible," Ewn nodded, then followed Rex around until they found a slope, which the two slid carefully down-making sure to stay as silent as possible-until they were just beyond the pod.

"Ready?," Rex asked the youth, who nodded, still watching the lump in the sand. Rex nodded back to him, and looked up to his squadmates, making a signal with his index and middle fingers to them. They recieved a salute in return, and Ewn saw Longshot aim his rifle down to them, before pulling the trigger.

A high pitched sound-not unlike that of two pieces of steel being beaten together-rung out over the site, causing the lump in front of Ewn to explode in a wave of sand. Beneath it, a brown, orb like droid appeared, standing on it's four legs, encased in a glowing blue shield. It immediately began firing on the two clones with it's dual mounted blasters, prompting the two clones to retreat behind the cliff. The droid began walking along the ravine floor, away from Ewn and Rex and towards a slope that would lead it up to Longshot and Gearshift.

"Come on," Rex tapped the boy on the shoulder and-hunched over-made his way over to the downed pod, the sound of blaster fire covering his footsteps. Ewn followed him to the hatch, where Rex spent a few second looking for booby traps, before climbing inside. "Ewn, keep watch," the boy nodded and hid just inside the doorway, peeking out at the ravine floor, keeping his eyes on the droideka ascending the slope.

Rex went to work undoing the console, taking some sort on omni-tool from his pack and cutting through the steel with relative ease. Ewn watched as the clone worked, taking looks out over the ravine every few seconds. Longshot and Gearshift seemed to be holding the shielded droid at bay, but it was clear that the droid would over power them soon enough. Gearshift was right, they just didn't have the firepower to take it out.

"Rex?, the droideka's closing in on them." Ewn said, he could tell there was fear in his voice. Rex kept working, but gave an _'Hmm_' to show he was listening. The boy watched as the two clones in the rocks above them fire less and less as the droid closed in on them, his mind racing to find a solution, it was that moment that he noticed the thrusters on the back of the pod.

"REX!," he almost laughed, drawing the attention from the clone."I know how to stop it!." the clone just watched him from behind his helmet, Ewn knowing that the clone had a confused look on it's face. "Can you get the thrusters to fire up?," Rex nodded, realising where the boy was going. "Good, give me a second." Without warning, Ewn burst from the pod hatch and began sprinting along the ravine towards the slope and the droideka.

His hand found his saber, and, activating the weapon, he began screaming at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing over the ravine and surrounding plains. "HEY, TINHEAD!," it was the only insult the boy could think of. "OVER HERE," the youth began swinging his weapon in circles, the emerald blade lighting up the air like fireworks.

The droideka truned on it's four feet to the boy. If it had emotions, it probably would have been surprised. The twin blasters began firing at Ewn, who used his years of training to deflect the bolts as best as possible. Longshot and Gearshift fired at the droid as well, but it was clear that Ewn was it's target. The boy, still swinging his blade to meet as many of the red laser bolts as possible, began to retreat down the slope and back to the pod, where Rex had finished working.

Rex flipped a few switches, then watched for the boy's signal. Ewn backed up as best he could, until he was back at the pod bay door and the droid was in range, before diving behind one of the seats. "REX, DO IT!" an explosion of blue and red flame burst from the thrusters, engulfing not only the droid, but a good thrity meters of the ravine floor. It lasted only a few seconds, but the overwhelming heat was enough to destroy the droid's shield and the droid itself, leaving nothing but some melted steel on the sand.

Ewn turned around the doorway as Rex laughed. "Damn good work Ewn," he said, patting the boy on the back as he disembarked the pod. "Reckless, but that's always the best way in my opinion." Ewn grinned, watching the pool of steel smoke in the sand. The other clones-who'd come down the slope-smiled and congratulated the boy as well while Rex took up his comm-device, trying to make contact with the other's.

"Commander?, this is Rex, we've gotten the communications unit, what's your situation?,"

The sounds of blaster fire came from the device. "_REX?, IT'S BAD, THERE'S HALF A BATTALION OF DROIDS HERE_," Rex cursed under his breath as Cody spoke. "_BUT THAT'S NOT THE WORST OF IT_,"

"What's wrong Commander?," Rex said, hesitant.

"_IT'S HIM REX, IT'S GRIEVOUS."_

**0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0**


	4. Chapter 4

** FOUR:**

Nearly fifty minutes of traversing the red rocky terrain of Eridis later, Ewn and the three clones found themselves entering the mudpits, and found that, just as Cody had told the padawan earlier that day, they weren't mud pits at all. Instead, they were gigantic holes in Eridis' surface, at least ten feet wide and filled with a foul smelling burgundy sludge, which bubbled fervently and let off bellows of greyish-red smoke into the sky.

Less than five minutes into the pits, they began to see signs of the battle ahead. Ruined Separatist battle droids scattered what little free space was left between the bubbling sludge pits, their beige durasteel chassis marked by the blaster bolts of the Republic troops. Some even lay in the pits themselves, the heat from the sludge having turned them to little more than piles of melted steel and circuits.

This made it even harder for the troops and the young jedi to find their way through. The broken droid bodies that hadn't been swallowed by the pits featured long, sharp edges that jutted out from the broken arms, legs and necks of the droids, and the four had to plan each step carefully, in fear of stepping on one or worse, falling on one.

Soon enough, they came upon the battle. Crimson red and Sapphire blue blaster bolts flew back and forth over a ravine floor as a gigantic collective of battle droids advanced on a cave entrance, where at least a dozen Republic troopers were barricaded by a series of boulders and stalagmites.

Ewn immediately entered the the fray, leaping away from Rex and the others down to the battle, igniting his lightsaber and cutting down a droid facing away from him. The action alerted a half dozen of the droids around him, and they turned to direct their fire at the young jedi, who changed his stance and began deflecting the bolts back at his attackers.

The troops came down after him, Longshot taking the head off of one droid as Ewn's saber deflected a bolt into the chest of another. Rex and Gearshift, who both carried repeater rifles, took point on either side of Ewn, and the four began shredding through the Separatist's backlines.

Using the force to guide his blade, Ewn flourished his green saber, twirling it behind his back. The movement guided the blade through both arms of a droid approaching him from behind, disabling it, and finished the strike by spinning on his heels and taking his enemy's head off.

"REX?-"

The static infused voice of Cody came out of nowhere. Ewn drove his blade through a droid's chest, then turned to Rex, who held his communicator up to his ear with one hand, and was firing his blaster with the other one.

"Commander," the troop replied, firing a volley of shots into a trio of approaching droids, taking each one out. "What's the situation?"

"GRIEVOUS IS OUT THERE-"

As if on cue, the monstrous roar of an engine echoed over the battlefield, and a shadow blacked out the sky. Ewn looked up from Rex to the cliffside overlooking the battlefield to see a mono-wheeled speeder bike fly off the cliff and over them, landing with a crash less than fifty feet away from Ewn and the troops, crushing at least a dozen droids in the process. With the brief moment Ewn had to look over the bike before he had to start fighting off the droids again, he recognised two things. One, that the speeder bike looked like it weighed more than a Bantha, and two, General Grievous was the most terrifying being Ewn had ever layed eyes on.

He'd heard many stories about the Kaleesh cyborg Grievous from the older jedi apprentices and knights who'd come back to Coruscant from missions. Tales of how he could kill a man by crushing his head in his three pronged claw of a hand, of the brutal torture techniques he used on his captives, and how he'd survived countless assaults by jedi strike teams, taking the hilts of fallen jedi as his own trophies, which he kept under his floor length brown cape.

But none of those stories, not one, gave any indication of how truely horrifying he was.

He leapt out of the speeder bike's pilot seat, landing on all fours like some great armoured beast, his metallic claws digging into the red Eridian rock. His amber eyes, standing out against the white steel plate covering his face, were immediately drawn to Ewn, who looked right back at the Kaleesh general with fear in his own blue eyes.

Grievous stood up, his eyes still on the young jedi as his mechanical limbs outstretched and he reached his full height. Now he stood a good foot and a half taller than every other being on the battle field, droid and clone alike. He reached beneath his cloak and retrieved a short range blaster rifle, one not unlike the model Separatist battle droids carried, and began towards Ewn, firing shots at the boy, who turned his attention to the attack, and began deflecting Grievous' fire both back at the general, and the scores of droids that surrounded them.

"Ewn!," Rex cried, taking the boy by the shoulder and pulling him away from the fast approaching Grievous. "Get to the caves!," Ewn nodded and turned away from the general, joining Rex and the others as they began to fight through the wave of droids once more, this time with twice the haste as they had before. But Ewn kept turning back, in between carving up battledroids, to steal glances at General Grievous. The cyborg had picked up his pace, and as Ewn looked back, he pulled a green lightsaber of his own out, twirling it in the air as he bounded through his droid army.

Soon Ewn realised that they weren't going to reach the caves before Grievous reached them. He called out, "REX!" and the clone caught on. He pulled Ewn behind him and took aim, releasing a volley of shots at Grievous, who slapped them away with his lightsaber with the non-chalance of a farmer swiping away bugs.

"Go Ewn," Rex snapped, releasing his empty power pack from the bottom of his blaster and reaching for another. "I'll hold him off until you reach the caves."

Ewn shook his head, decapitating another droid and knocking it onto it's back with a thrust kick. "You can't fight him yourself!,"

"It's alright, Ewn," Rex began firing again. "I'm expendable,"

Ewn shook his head again, guiding his saber to reflect one of Grievous' own shots milli-seconds before it hit Rex in the arm. "Not to me you aren't,"

With Gearshift and Longshot split up from them by the advancing droids, Ewn took stance behind the kneeling Rex as Grievous started sprinting the last ten meters. The clone rolled to the left as Grievous swang his saber at him, only to meet Ewn's own as it came down. The general pulled his blaster up to shoot Ewn as Rex slipped a vibro-blade from his boot, and dug the knife into a tiny gap in Grievous' armoured elbow.

The blade split the cable Grievous used as muscle fiber, and his blaster arm fell limp at his side. "DAMN YOU!" Grievous growled in a raspy, exhausted voice that sent a chill up Ewn's spine. He still felt it gave Rex and himself an advantage over the Separatist, but to his surprise, Grievous' disabled arm suddenly split in two, and a third arm took the place of the one Rex disabled.

Grievous let out a raspy laugh, and swang his saber at Ewn again. The boy parried it, but due to his inexperience, he was unaware of his surroundings, and tripped over a wrecked droid, falling onto his side and losing grip on his saber, which rolled away into a pile of droid bodies.

Regaining his bearings, Ewn used the force to scramble for his lightsaber in the growing pile of droid limbs.

Finding it lodged in a droid's neck beam less than two feet from him, he reached for it just as a heavy weight came down on his back, pinning him to the rocky ravine floor.

Another raspy, robotic laugh revealed to Ewn that Grievous was standing on him, and was slowly increasing the pressure on Ewn's back, crushing the thirteen year old beneath his hundred and fifty kilo cyborg body. Ewn let out a cry as Grievous' placed even more pressure on the teen, who laughed once more. "Am I hurting you, jedi Whelp?," the cyborg laughed. "It will be over soon-AARGH"

Grievous' let out a cry of his own. Ewn had no clue what was going on, until Rex's voice spoke. "Not under my watch Grievous," Ewn felt the pressure leave his back, and rolled over to see Grievous flailing around, Rex hanging off his back with some sort of beeping device in his hand.

"REX!," Ewn cried, but before he had a chance to grasp his saber, an explosion rocked him, enveloping Rex, Grievous and the few droids around them. He covered his eyes as a white light blinded his vision, then squinted to make out what happened. When his vision did return, he saw Rex's lifeless body lying on his side, Grievous' body next to his. Neither were moving.

Ewn's eyes widened, and, even though his body was aching, he leapt to his feet and limped to Rex, falling to his knees and rolling Rex onto his back. At first, Ewn only saw the obvious damage. The clone's armour was singed by the blast, marked with black streaks on his visor and chest. But that wasn't the worst of the damage, and it took a second for the padawan to realise it.

Rex's arm, the one that had been holding the detonator, was gone.

Everything from the elbow down had been completely blown away. The white armour plating, the black sleeve of the clone's thermal undersuit, and the flesh and bone of his arm weren't there, with no sign it had ever been there at all.

"Rex?," he cried softly, shaking the clone's chest. "Rex, wake up,"

There was no answer, and the boy began weeping. He'd never seen anyone die before, having lived his entire life in the temple, and the situation was all new to him. He became so enamored with waking up the clone that he didn't realise Grievous had awoken and climbed to his feet, his metal armour damaged by the explosion, his face plate split from the forehead on a downwards angle through his left eye. His entire right arm, from shoulder down was gone, like Rex's. His cloak was singed and smoking from the blast, but the lightsabers beneath his cloak were undamaged, and he took one with his last remaining arm, igniting it. It's bright blue blade caught Ewn's attention, and the boy looked up to see the Kaleesh cyborg start to bring the blade down onto him.

Ewn closed his eyes, and waited for death.

But it never came.

Instead, the buzzing sound of lightsaber on lightsaber met his ears. Ewn opened his eyes and looked up, seeing that Grievous wasn't looking at him, but over the boy's head. Ewn tilted his head up and saw Jedi master Plo Koon standing behind him, his blue lightsaber blocking Grievous' own from splitting Ewn's head in twain. Koon swiped away Grievous' blade with his own, and, while keeping his guard up, put his hand on Ewn's shoulder and stepped between the child and his assailant.

"Get to the caves young one," Koon said. His voice was deep and serene, with phrasing that projected confidence and intelligence.

"But I...I" Ewn started. He didn't want to leave Rex.

"Get to the caves," Koon said, not taking his eyes from the battle-damaged Grievous. "That is an order."

Ewn opened his mouth to protest, but knew better, and stood up. He kept his eyes on the two duelists as he backed away, then when he was at least fifty feet back, he span on his heels and saw an entire Republic armada. A good dozen gunships hovered over the battlefield, dropping troops off at various points, where they were cutting down the thinning droid numbers with ease. Up in the sky, he saw a Repbulic Starcruiser in Eridis' atmosphere, so large that even from so far away, Ewn could make out the view ports built into the ship's sides.

"EWN!," Cody's voice tore him from his stupor, and looked towards the caves to see Cody, Gearshift, Longshot and the others sprinting towards him. "ARE YOU ALRIGHT?,"

"Cody," the boy cried. "REX!, he jumped on Grievous and blew up. He's d..dead!" Cody wrapped his arm around his shoulder, then pointed for the rest of the squad to run to Koon in his standoff with the Separatist.

"It's alright Ewn," Cody comforted him. "He did his duty, and he did it well."

**0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0**

Ewn stood alone on the viewing deck of Plo Koon's _VENATOR_ class Star cruiser, watching as they pulled out of hyperspace a few hundred thousand kilometers away from the planet Dorin, lamenting both the fight with Grievous and the loss of his lightsaber, which had been blown away in Rex's explosion and no one could find it. Longshot theorised that it fell into one of the pits on the ravine floor.

The battle on Eridis left him with a broken rib, most likely from Grievous standing on his back. His left arm had a large gash on it, he had no clue where that came from, and the medic droid had told him that he suffered 'Flash Sickness', which apparently happened when one was caught on the outskirts of an explosion. It left him woozy and nauseous, but he couldn't sleep. The death of his friend haunted his thoughts.

Rex had been given a burial on Eridis, along with six other clones who'd died during the fight. Ewn had almost cried, but a small part of him knew that Rex would rather he stay strong instead of crying over him. So he stood strong next to Koon during the funeral, his shoulders back and his head high. Though he knew that anyone watching could recognise that he was weeping inside.

On the other side, Grievous had been captured by Master Plo. The Kaleesh was outnumbered by a star cruiser full of battle hardened clone troops, his droid battalion had all but been wiped out, and with the battle damage to his mechanical body, he knew he stood no chance. He may have been a psychopath, but he wasn't an idiot, and now he found himself in Plo's starcruiser's hold as a prisoner.

The planet Dorin came into view. It was a murky brown colour, since it's atmosphere was made up of mineral smoke, thicker than the smog on the swamp moon Yavin four. Ewn had heard that it was impossible for anyone except a Kel-Dor to survive on the planet without a special apparatus, as the air was so dense.

"What do you think?"

Ewn turned on his heels to the doorway, where Plo Koon stood, his arms crossed behind his back. He wasn't looking at Ewn though, instead he was looking at his home planet through the window.

"Master Plo," Ewn said, startled by the Jedi's entrance. "I didn't notice you were there...I," He began to bow, but the Kel-Dor raised a hand to stop him.

"There is no need for formality at the moment," he said, his calm voice almost emotionless. "How do you like my home?"

Ewn turned back to face Dorin. "It's very...brown."

The elder jedi chuckled beneath his breathing mask. "It is, isn't it?...the surface is a far more interesting sight, I can asure you."

Koon walked up to the railing and stood next to Ewn, pulling a ruck sack from behind his back. "Cody found your things in Rex's bag." Ewn took the bag from the elder and opened it. Inside was his brown cloak but nothing else.

"Master Drallig's holocron is missing," Ewn gasped, looking up the jedi master.

"I know. I took it."

Koon didn't look at Ewn as he spoke. "Why?," the boy asked.

"Because it was broken."

The Kel-Dor reached into his brown tunic and retrieved a new holocron, a pyramid shaped one instead of the cube Cin Drallig had given him. "This was given to me by my master Tyvokka, one of the wisest jedi I have ever known," He handed the holcron to Ewn, who turned it over in his hands."It features the same encyclopaedia that Cin drallig's holocrons do. I'm sure you will find use for it."

Ewn nodded. "Thankyou, master Plo."

"Do you know what Master Tyvokka told me on his death bed?," Koon asked, looking back out at the slowly approaching Dorin.

"No master,"

"He recited a line from the jedi creed," Ewn kept his eyes on the jedi master, enamored with his words. "There is no death, there is only the force...Do you know what that means, young one?"

Ewn nodded, then spoke quietly. "It means that while our physical bodies die, the force keeps our spirit strong, and we will live on in an afterlife."

"Precisely," Koon didn't move as he spoke, didn't even look at Ewn. "This doesn't just apply to those who wield the force like you and me. Every being in the universe is connected to the force, that includes Rex," Ewn's head snapped back to the elder jedi."He may be gone physically, but I can asure you that he lives on in the force and is at peace."

Ewn nodded. Master Plo wasn't telling him not to weep over Rex, but to realise that he wasn't really gone.

"I understand, master Plo"

"Good. I have another gift for you," the Kel-dor reached into his mud coloured tunic again, this time taking out a small package wrapped in a thin piece of old fabric. "This," he said. "Is another item of Tyvokka's." He offered it to Ewn, who took it with a sense of caution. "Cody told me that you lost your lightsaber during the battle."

Ewn unfolded the old cloth to reveal the most amazing lightsaber hilt he'd ever laid eyes on. It was longer than he was used to, about a foot from tip to tip, perhaps a few centimeters shorter, and featured a short curve about two thirds along the shaft. The grip was an incredibly smooth amber coloured wood, it's mechanics a pale gold. At the base of the hilt, a small power pack was built, three golden prongs exuding from it, as well as a small belt clip.

"It's...beautiful."

"Tyvokka carved the hilt himself, out of the Wroshyr trees of Kashyyk," Ewn lay down his other affects and stood back, igniting the blade and getting yet another shock. Instead of the blade being sapphire blue or emerald green, it was a golden yellow that seemed to ripple as he waved it. "I understand that you are probably used to blue and green saber crystals, but I'd like to request that as long you wield my master's saber, you don't replace the crystal...It would honour me greatly."

"Of course master Plo," Ewn said. It was true, he'd never actually seen a yellow lightsaber before, but to him, that just made it an extra special gift. "It'd be my honour."

"Thank you," Koon turned back to look as his home planet, which was so close now that it filled the whole view window. "I'm afraid I have to go back up the bridge. I'll send for you when we're about to land."

Ewn nodded, bowed to his elder, then watched as the Kel-Dor began to walk gracefully from the room. He took a look down at his new saber, and a thought hit him. "Umm, master Plo?" the master turned to him. "Since you gave me your master's lightsaber...does that mean you'll take me as your apprentice?"

Koon chuckled again. "Ewn, before I answer you, let me ask you a question of my own...Why didn't you run away?"

Ewn's jaw drooped a little. He had no idea what the question meant. "I'm sorry?"

"Why didn't you try to run away with Gearshift and Longshot?, why did you stay with Rex? I'm sure he told you to run after them, but you didn't."

"He told me he was expendable, and I told him that to me, he wasn't." It was the truth, Ewn knew that. But he wasn't sure that was the answer Plo was looking for.

"Exactly. You stood there and fought against an enemy that could have killed you...You fought for a person, a clone, at the risk of you own life. That's why I will take you as my apprentice...Because you did what a jedi is supposed to do."

Ewn opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. "You showed compassion," the Kel-Dor said. "If a jedi will not fight for one, what is point of fighting for the many?"

With that, Koon turned on his heels and walked out. "I will send for you later, young one."

Ewn bowed to his new master, the elder's wisdom swimming in his mind. "As you wish, master."

**-0ooo0ooo0ooo0ooo0-**


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5:

Fumbling with his breather mask, Ewn stepped out of the Dor'shan embassy into the early afternoon sunlight. Or, at least what you would call sunlight on Dorin, what with the absurd amount of minerals and other gasses that composed the atmosphere of the planet. The system's sun was barely visible even at high noon. It was still possible for the padawan to see around him, but no more than a hundred or so feet into the sky.

He'd been on planet three days now, while his master Plo Koon made a treaty with the Kel-Dor council. In that time, he'd done very little, but had seen enough of the capital city of Dor'shan to find his way around without a guide.

The buildings of Dor'shan were odd to the padawan. Instead of towering skyscrapers like that of Coruscant, they were mammoth ziggurat's, made of grey durasteel and stone. They seemed to have been built in a grid-like pattern, with a dozen or so making up a Dor'shan city block, the streets in between lined with traders, food vendors and other stalls where Kel-Dor's stood selling jewellry, imitation artifacts, and other trinketts.

Finally securing the dial on his breather mask, he took in a deep breath of purified oxygen and relaxed. He couldn't survive the shocking amount of airborne minerals within the atmosphere. Master Plo had made him promise that he wouldn't leave their lodgings at the Republic embassy without at least two extra clean air cells. They each held more than eight hours of clean air, more than enough for him, but Master Plo still insisted.

He cut across the road towards the Kel'Dor government building, a ziggurat that grew well into the mineral fog above him. He had to show his security clearance pass to a duo of Kel'Dor soldiers, but they let him in without hassle.

Master Plo met him at the grav-lift's doors on the seventh floor. "Good Morning, Ewn," he said as Ewn bowed. The Kel'Dor wasn't wearing his specialised breather mask; having no need to do so on his own planet, revealing a beak-like mouth that clicked slightly as he talked. "How did you sleep?"

"Well master, thankyou," the padawan replied, following his master down the hallway.

"And your ribs, how are they?"

"Much better, actually," Ewn said, rubbing his side. "Kolto injections are a thing of miracles."

"They do do marvelous things." Plo stopped at a door and gestured for Ewn to go through. Inside, a large black stone table sat, floating on a series of small grav-generators. Around it, a good dozen Kel'dor of various government positions sat, talking fervently about something Ewn soon picked up as the captured General Grievous.

"This monster is not someting we should keep on planet!," a female Kel'dor on their side of the room called. "If the Separatists discover that we have him jailed here..."

"I'm sure the Separatist's already know," another cut her off. He looked much older than some of the others; his clay colored skin wrinkled and leathery.

"All the more reason to get him off planet!" the female replied. "Dorin has always aimed to keep neutral in this war, but if we take such a side that see us as jailers for Separatist leaders, we'll have a whole armada bearing down on us with no army to defend our people."

Plo leant down and whispered in Ewn's ear. "My people are very hesitant to take sides in this war," he said as they watched. "She," he pointed to the female as she spoke. "Is Sel Phan, the interplanetary relations counselor."

"I can understand you concerns Counselor Phan, but I feel at this moment that keeping General Grievous in custody in Dor'Shan would be the best course of action."The aged Kel'Dor stood. "I think that is enough for today, now if you'll excuse me." He walked out from around the large table as the group began to disperse. He caught sight of Plo and Ewn and offered the Jedi master his three fingered hand.

"Plo!," his beakmouth clicked as the Jedi master shook his hand. "How is Dorin's favourite Jedi?"

"Somewhat tired, steward. This is my newest apprentice, Ewn Aathrast." Ewn shook the steward's hand. "Ewn, this is Deg Kuam, steward of the Dorin government. He more or less runs the entire planet."

Kuam laughed heartily, his beak clicking rhythmically. "I wouldn't say 'runs' the entire planet, I just make the decisions that the council cannot decide themselves." He gestured for the two to walk with him. "I assume you wish to talk about the outpost proposition?" they turned down the hall and entered a large complex overlooking the building's entrance several floors below.

"Well, you did say you'd bring it up at the council meeting today. I brought Ewn by to see if you had an answer."

Kuam lead them through another hall and into a cantina, where they took seats by a large vidscreen hanging on the wall. Kuam ordered caf for both he and Master Plo and a fizzade for Ewn.

"Are you hungry youngling?," the Kel'dor politician asked him as Ewn opened the fizzade. Ewn nodded a yes, and looked at the holo-menu projected from the table's centerpiece. "Try whatever you'd like. One of the benefits of being Dorin's steward is that I, and my guests, eat everywhere for free."

Ewn politely smiled, tapping the various projections of odd looking foods in front of him. "What are these?," he asked after a moment, his finger hovering over a picture of golden coloured orbs in some sort of white soup.

"Coin crabs," Master Plo said with a low chuckle. "I wouldn't if I were you."

"Why not?"

Master Plo turned to look the young man in the eyes. "Because biting into one would be a great way to snap your tooth in two."

Deg Kuam laughed, his beaklike mouth clicking again. Ewn blushed.

"I'll just have Gorba melt."

They ordered their meals and ate mostly in silence, until Ewn, who wanted to understand the Grievous situation better, spoke up. "Why is having Grievous on Dorin bad?"

Deg Kuam finished his mouthful and spoke up. "General Grievous is somewhat of an invaluable asset to the Separatists...you know that obviously." Ewn nodded. "Well, with General Grievous on planet could most certainly be seen by Count Dooku and his people as a stance against their cause..."

"So?...you are against it?...aren't you?" Ewn cut in.

"Ewn...Manners." Master Plo said.

"Sorry Master."

Kuam took another bite and continued. "Honestly?...No, we're not," Ewn mouthed a 'what?'. The steward saw his face and continued. "You see Ewn, Dorin sells mineral oils to many worlds. It's extremely profitable for my people because Dorin is one of the few planets in the galaxy with these sorts of deposits. We bring in billions of credits every standard year just from this resource. Both the Republic and the separatists have use for the oil, especially in times of war, so, being the business savvy sorts we Kel-dor are, we've kept neutral and sold to both sides, amping up the prices to increase our profit margin.'

Ewn swallowed his bite of Gorba melt and looked to his master. The Jedi ate quietly, the only sounds being the crack of tiny bones crushing under his beak. "If Dorin wishes to stay neutral, why does the Republic want an outpost on the planet?"

"Is it not obvious?" Master Plo said, not looking away from his meal. When the boy didn't answer, the Master continued. "The Republic believes the Separatists will launch an assault on the planet in hopes to gain complete control of the mines. It would deal a violent blow to the Republic war effort."

"And General Grievous being a prisoner here could be the catalyst that brings the Separatists down on Dorin?"

Deg Kaum nodded. "Exactly."

Ewn looked down at his sandwich. "So why keep him then? You said it was the best course of action?"

Kuam took another bite. "I think that , since Grievous is such a pivotal member of the Separatist council, if they DO decide to attack, we could turn his imprisonment into a hostage situation. Count Dooku is a soul-less monster, but even he wouldn't want to lose Grievous."

A beeping noise stopped Ewn from asking another question. Deg Kuam pulled a small holo-com from his fancy coat and lay it on the table. The sight of a Kel-dor in military garb appeared. "Sir,  
>we have received a message from the Separatist Count Dooku." Kuam sighed, layed down his food, and pressed a button on the com unit. The solider morphed into the image of Count Dooku, bone white hair and beard, long cape draped over his shoulders.<p>

"Count Dooku."

"Kuam," Ewn noticed that Dooku didn't even bother to address the Steward properly. "You do know what you've done?" Kuam nodded. "Then you'll realise that your actions have voided our treaty. You will release General Grievous within three days. If you do not, then Dorin will be considered an enemy of the Separatists."

"What contract would that be?" Master Plo said. The hologram Dooku turned to look at the Jedi master. "Aah, master Plo, it's been many years since we've seen each other. Congratulations on your seating with the council."

"Answer my question, Count," Koon didn't even look at the hologram. He just kept eating. Ewn thought that was so cool, he didn't know why.

"The Separatists and your people have an agreement that states any hostility towards our movement would render them an enemy of freedom. It leaves them open for a strike by our armies."

Ewn saw his master's fingers tense around his fork. "What will happen if Grievous is turned over?" Kuam said.

"I'd be willing to let this little embarrassment slide if Grievous is returned to us. We can go back to our original agreement."

Kuam opened his mouth, but Master Plo cut him off. "Then it shall be so. We will make the arrangements for a drop off in a neutral system. You will receive the coordinates within a day."

Ewn saw the figure of Dooku smirk. "Good decision, Master Plo. I await our meeting." The figure fizzled out. Kuam looked to Master plo and clicked his beak.

"Please don't be angry, Steward." the Jedi said. He lay down his fork and clasped his hands beneath his chin. "I'll ask that you make the arrangements for Grievous to be sent to my star-cruiser tomorrow."

Kuam looked as if he was about to protest, but just nodded. "Very well. I hope you know what you're doing, Master Plo."

"So do I."

Kuam took one more bite of his meal, drained his caf, and left them. Ewn watched his master for a moment. The Jedi seemed upset. He'd never seen that from a master before. "Are you alright?"  
>He asked. Master Plo nodded, not raising his eyes from his half eaten soup. "Count Dooku got to you, didn't he."<p>

"Ewn," Koon said after a moment's silence. "You are very young. You have not seen what war is truly like. Sure, you've seen a battle, but that was on Eriadis, an uninhabited world. On a planet like Dorin, where there are millions of people, my people, battle is more than just blaster fire and saber combat. It is hatred and violence , it is death and the complete disregard for life. If it were possible, I'd throw Grievous in prison for as long as his heart would continue beating, but keeping him here means risking the lives of my family. My blood. If giving Grievous back to the Separatists means saving one Kel-dor's life, I will do so."

Ewn nodded. The elder Jedi made sense. He really hadn't seen the things Master Plo had. "I understand." He said after a few moments. "Does this mean we're going to escort Grievous to the drop off point?."

Master Plo thought for a moment. "Due to the circumstances, I think I might be a little too invested in the outcome of this mission...I'll send a request for another Jedi to lead the drop off. We might still be tasked with accompanying whoever the council sends. Be ready for it."

"Yes master." Ewn said. They finished eating in silence.


End file.
